Muse darkly, my friends.

Hedwig and the Owlery Pt. 5

Did everyone enjoy their weekend? This Sunday, Hedwig goes on a date over the Forbidden Forest and helps free a hippogriff. You can find the last episode here. And the first one here.

Hedwig and the Owlery

Image Source: Flickr

Very good, Harry, blow up your aunt and send Hedwig packing, the owl thought as Harry left Privet Drive. It was slightly humorous to see the overweight human bouncing through the air, but more inconvenient than anything else. She had a long journey to make by herself.

She already knew where he would end up. If adults couldn’t notice where he trounced off to she certainly could. Hedwig mused how she was already a better parent than Dumbledore and the rest of them. If she had hatched an egg the owl would be the Minister of Magic by now. But, as it stood, she hadn’t hatched an egg. She was an owl waiting for her pet at the Leaky Cauldron. There were pictures of a wanted serial killer posted everywhere but it didn’t unnerve her as it did most everyone else. She did not see the necessary determination needed to kill within his hollow eyes. Hedwig had hunted enough herself to know what the act called for.

Harry soon met up with her before boarding the Hogwarts Express. The year unfolded with worse things than serial killers on the loose. She dated Dumbledore’s phoenix Fawkes, albeit briefly. He was not unkind, but often aloof. Their first date over the Forbidden Forest filled Hedwig with a passion that went largely unnoticed by Fawkes. Somehow this and his incredibly good looks, made Hedwig desire him even more.

Hedwig could easily fight off a wizard: emotions were much more like Dementors which had recently been introduced to the Hogwart’s grounds. They filled her with the same dread as they approached and she sometimes saw her relationship with Fawkes in trouble.

Between avoiding their gaze and improving Hagrid’s lesson plans she had little time to spend with Fawkes. Hagrid did not know of course, but she scratched out most of his ideas for riding centaurs through the forest…

Initially, she had flown to Hagrid’s hut with the intention of telling off Buckbeak, and not rewriting Hagrid’s entire curriculum. Attacking students such as Malfoy, even if she was not partial toward them, was a grievously cruel act. The magical creatures of Hogwarts should know better.

It could very well have been Harry he hurt. In fact, the next time it might have been. Hagrid was too inept to properly manage his classroom, but Hedwig would take charge of it if she had to. “Professor Hedwig has a nice ring to it,” she thought before landing near the pumpkin patch.

“Buckbeak!” she yelled in fluent hippogriff. He was chained to a post and looked sullen. “What happened here?” Hedwig asked.

“I nicked that little Slytherin boy so they chained me up. If I had known they’d put me to death, I’d have done a lot more damage.”

Hedwig had to stifle a laugh. Hurting students was not funny, but neither were executions.

“Why did you do it? Is pride worth hurting a lesser creature? Human minds aren’t as developed as ours, you know.”

“I know, I lost my temper. The other boy gripped too tight when he rode my back though. I should have thrown him in the lake.”

“That would be losing your temper again. And if you hurt my pet, I’ll execute you myself.”

They both managed a laugh this time. Hedwig didn’t feel as strongly as she did before. Perhaps the creature was worth saving. She thought of Dumbledore, but asking him for help after last year seemed agonizing to her pride. Perhaps McGongall would be more open to reason….

McGongall, who understood her perfectly when transfigured as a cat, agreed that something should be done. The time-turner she had given Hermione might be put to good use if they were careful. “But, goodness, those children are seldom ever careful,” she mused.

After Buckbeak’s appeal failed, Hermione’s time-turner became the only option. She used it to fool MacNair and Ministry of Magic before any life could be taken. Hedwig, however still needed to protect Harry from Professor Lupin of all people. Lupin had gone into the Whomping Willow shortly after Harry and it was obvious from his gait and expression he had not taken his potion. Very soon he could turn into a werewolf with no conscience.

Buckbeak and Hedwig managed to draw him off of Harry, Hermione, and the others. They led him deep into the forest as they flew high enough to stay out of reach. Hippogriffs were the worst navigators in the magic world after humans and they nearly lost their way.

Buckbeak was one of the more intelligent ones of his species but remained painfully aloof as how to escape with Sirius. He did not let onto Hedwig of course. Buckbeak would rather die of exhaustion over a desert that admit fault.

“I’ll get him there safely, Hedwig, stop nagging me!” Buckbeak assured her about Sirius. “But just for future reference, could you tell me which way is north?”

Hedwig pointed him in the right direction with her wing, unsure if he was serious or not. She did, in truth, really want to think he was incapable of basic navigation. The sun and stars should have been enough for him. It always was for her.